Creativity Inc.

It must be a trend for very successful business people from all industries to write their “tell-all” story on how they how to be successful through the context of a quality they embody.  So enter the world of Ed Catmull.  Not a name that rang in my memory, but a famous guy for the work he does… the President of Pixar Animation Studios.  Catmull’s book, Creativity Inc., is a road map for his success as a CEO in the art industry.  Like most leadership books, Catmull draws upon the tenets he believes created the success for the company.  Catmull provides an in-depth history of his humble beginnings through college life and how he worked to help the movie industry realize the importance of animation and special effects for movies.  He worked with Speilberg, Lucas and the company was first funded by Steve Jobs of Apple fame.  If you are a fan on animated movies, you’ll love the inside stories of Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and Up (to name a few).  Catmull shared the characteristics for a successful company: honesty and candor; not having fear of failing; Change and randomness are important; broadening one’s view, and not staying status quo, to name a few.  Each tenet was woven into the history of a particular movie.  Movie buffs will love it, leadership guru’s might say, another one-word leadership book…  There was no “wow” moments for me and I felt it was rather short on innovation or new ideas related to leadership.  I was hoping for a bit more on why curiosity?  How is it further developed, and it is important for success (with some data points to prove it).  An ok book, I wouldn’t run out to get it though.